


trip, stumble, fall

by cacodaemonia



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Future Fic, M/M, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 16:33:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10222562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cacodaemonia/pseuds/cacodaemonia
Summary: Terushima runs hot, and has the most beautiful pair of hands Chikara has ever seen.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [directorenno](https://archiveofourown.org/users/directorenno/gifts).



Chikara doesn't know how long he spends standing zoned out in front of his door, but he's there long enough for Terushima to come home and scare the crap out of him when he shouts in his ear.

"Howdy, neighbour!" Terushima yells before catching Chikara when he almost trips as he whirls around to face him. Chikara should really be used to loud and hyperactive teenage boys, but apparently he isn't if they weren't a part of the Karasuno High School volleyball team. It's really more a testament to Terushima's volume and exuberance than it is anything else. Hinata, Tanaka and Noya together were more than any one person should have had to deal with.

"Hi," Chikara offers back weakly after regaining his balance. He can still feel the warmth of Terushima's touch on his waist, lingering even after he lets go to push strands of his hair out of his face. Terushima runs hot, and has the most beautiful pair of hands Chikara has ever seen. "Can I film you?" he blurts out before he can regret it.

Terushima freezes for a moment, short enough that Chikara isn't sure if it really happened. He's smiling his normal smile when he replies. "I know I've got celebrity looks, but I'm really not an actor..."

"You don't have to do much acting," Chikara tugs on his collar nervously. "It's- my major assignment. This semester. I have to make a short film and I just thought- there isn't much of a storyline but my idea was that people don't show their emotions with just their facial expressions, you know? So I want to explore how you can tell somebody's emotions through different parts of their body. I wouldn't be filming your face that much. Does that make sense. Did I talk too much?" The words spill out of his mouth like a plague. Chikara doesn't know why he's so anxious - Terushima wouldn't shoot him down cruelly anyway even if he declined. Probably, he wants Terushima to be the subject of his lens more than he realised.

Terushima just looks at him for a while, head tilting a little to the side. He bites his lip before the corner of his mouth curls up into a smile. "So what you're saying is that you only want me for my body?"

"No!" Chikara says quickly, cheeks burning. "I mean. Well. Yes, kind of..."

Terushima relents before Chikara can embarrass himself further. "I could give it a go?"

Chikara can't help the grin that spreads across his face.

 

 

 

 

The first time they film, it's unplanned. They're sitting on the balcony in front of their apartments, more in front of Terushima's door than Chikara's. Their legs are hanging off the edge, arms slung over the railing. Chikara's looking through the photos on his camera and Terushima's chatting energetically about one of his favourite buildings.

"-right? So it's all wonky and curvy and _weird_ , and everybody hates it, they're all 'this building is an eyesore and'- Ennoshita, are you listening?"

"Hmm?" Chikara agrees absentmindedly, going out of the gallery and into shooting mode. "Mostly."

"Mostly?" Terushima says, affronted. He swings his legs up and faces Chikara, kicking him lightly. "Rude! Pay attention to me and my vast architectural knowledge!"

"Your vast-" Chikara sighs with exaggerated aggrievance. He really was mostly listening about Terushima's wonky building - he doesn't mind paying attention to his rants even though he can't fully appreciate then. It's enough to see the way Terushima lights up with enthusiasm. "Oh alright, impart me with your wisdom."

"I'm watching you," Terushima threatens, a pout on his face, before he launches back into his description. His toes wiggle with excitement on the floorboards. Chikara begins filming them without really thinking about it. Terushima cuts off again in the midst of talking about an _'even wonkier, Ennoshita!'_   building.

"-like it's dancing, and that's why I'm going to kick your ass, Ennoshita. What are you _doing_?"

"Filming your toes," Chikara says as he dodges the kick Terushima aims him, and then flushes red when he realises the weirdness of what he's doing. Terushima goes a little red too, foot freezing midair. "For my assignment! I'm not being a creep, I promise."

"You kinda are," Terushima points out, putting his foot back down hesitantly.

"Yeah," Chikara agrees. "I kinda am. Sorry."

Terushima starts giggling, and he's only alone in his laughter for a few seconds before Chikara joins him. Matsuoka from four doors down has to step over their laughing bodies, curled into each other on the floor, to get to class on time.

 

 

 

 

Chikara works part-time at the convenience store down the street most days. His parents had wanted him to stay in Miyagi for university, and they certainly hadn't wanted him to study film. Chikara's paying most of his own way through university. Between work, class and assignments, his social life is barely existent and he's severely sleep deprived.

In the hours before dawn on the weekend, Terushima's often the only customer. He sits on the counter wordlessly as Chikara checks him out, his coins already counted out. Sometimes, his shirt is unbuttoned a little more than Chikara is comfortable with. Usually, there's glitter on his throat, catching the fluorescent lighting when he tips his head back.

Always, his lips are tinted red, redder than his normal bitten pink. He keeps Chikara company until he finishes his bottle of strawberry milk, nudging him awake whenever he's about to drift off.

Today, his hands shake, barely noticeable, but Chikara's always looking at Terushima a little deeper, a little longer than he should be. Chikara wants to cover them with his own. Instead, he brushes his fingertips across the back of Terushima's hand. The shaking subsides some under his touch. Terushima smiles at him, small but genuine.

 

 

 

 

The fabric of Terushima's shirt obscures the movement, hides the tension in his shoulders a little. Chikara realises that what he really wants is it gone, the view of the muscles of Terushima's back unobstructed. The words "Are you okay with taking your shirt off?" come out of his mouth before he can think about why it would be a bad idea. But he can put aside his attraction for his art.

"Sure," Terushima says lightly, and pulls off his shirt, tossing it on the ground before him. Chikara's breath hitches in his throat as he suddenly realises that the practice is harder than the theory.

He bites his lip as he leans in closer to the expanse of golden skin on display. He wants the play of light on Terushima's back to be more dramatic. "Can I touch you?"

"Yeah," Terushima says.

Chikara grips on to his camera with his right hand as he angles Terushima with his left, keeping his eye behind the viewfinder. When he moves his hand from the small of Terushima's back to his hip bone, his shoulders tense up even more.

"Okay," Chikara breathes. "This is good."

Apparently his inhibitions are shot on this day, and his hand slides further, fingers resting more over Terushima's stomach than his hip. Chikara gets the intended effect, Terushima trying to keep his position but unable to help but hunch in on himself a little.

"And cut," Chikara says after a few seconds pass, and if his hand lingers a little longer, then neither of them mention it.

 

 

 

 

Apart from playing against Johzenji in the Spring High during their second year, Chikara in his year as captain helped Takeda-sensei organise a few practice matches against them. From the little that they'd interacted in high school, this is what he remembers of Terushima: a warm grin that he was almost never without, long fingers that gripped his hand firmly, the flash of metal when a pink tongue darted out to wet chapped lips, and an insufferable cockiness.

When Terushima had, half asleep, walked straight into Chikara as he was locking his door to head off to his first day of lectures, he'd been surprised to say the least. It was easy, to fall into their friendship, Terushima's mischief playing off Ennoshita's seriousness, brokered by their constant proximity and shared irregular waking hours.

It hadn't taken much more for Chikara to fall a little further, into love with Terushima.

 

 

 

 

Honestly, Chikara doesn't really know how you would go about portraying love with a single person's body parts, but he's determined to find out. They're sitting on the floor facing each other, the distance between them just enough so that all of Terushima is in frame.

Terushima obviously doesn't know either, fingers tapping on his thigh, pausing only to ask Chikara, "So... how do we do this?"

"I'm... not sure," Chikara replies, putting down his camera for a moment. Terushima resumes his tapping. "How about you think of something you really love? Something that makes you really happy."

"O-kay," Terushima says, drawing out the 'o' in a long breath. Chikara brings his camera up again, trying to find how Terushima's body betrays his feelings of love. Maybe it's not as easy as the way Terushima's toes dance in excitement, or the way the muscles in his back bunch up in apprehension, but Chikara looks. Terushima crosses his legs in front of him, lays his hands in his lap. He makes a valiant effort not to move them around as wildly as he usually does, but at the end of the day Terushima is still Terushima, and they twitch intermittently.

"It's not working," he says, frowning. "I don't really know what to do."

Chikara hums in thought. "What do you love?"

Terushima's fingers go back to tapping against his thigh. "I love... my friends. Making them smile and them making me smile. The cat on my street that after years of trying to claw my face off finally let me pet it on the day before I came to Tokyo. The feeling when I hit a serve or a spike just right, and I know that it's going to be a killer." He props his arm up so that he can rest his chin on the palm of his hand before continuing. "I love strawberry milk! And that point in model making where your model stops looking like an elementary school project and starts looking like the building you envisioned. The face that Hana-san would make when the team would do something really stupid."

"So her face all the time, pretty much," Chikara can't help but interject drily.

"Hey!" Terushima yells in mock outrage that he only manages to hold for a few seconds before he laughs. Chikara's grinning behind the camera.

"I love-" Terushima continues before he cuts off suddenly, hands clenching into fists before they loosen and he tangles his fingers together. Chikara zooms in on the movement, the twist and the slightest tremble of Terushima's digits. He's quiet for a while, long enough for it to start to become awkward and Chikara to break the silence.

"Cut! I think I've got it," Chikara says softly, smiling as he looks away from his camera, up at Terushima. Terushima's gaze on him is warm, enough that Chikara can barely hold it. It makes his chest ache a little. "What are you thinking of?" he says softly, curiously.

Terushima looks away from him quickly. "Nothing," he mumbles, folding his hands in his lap.

"Sorry," Chikara fiddles with his camera. "It's none of my business, anyway."

Terushima doesn't reply.

 

 

 

 

He normally smells like alcohol on nights - early mornings, really - like these, but he doesn't usually have it on his breath.

"Where are your keys, Terushima?" His breath is warm on Chikara's neck, hard lines of his body pressed up against his side. It makes it hard for Chikara to concentrate on the task at hand.

"Mmm," Terushima hums into the skin of Chikara's throat. "Pocket."

This helps Chikara not at all. Terushima's wearing a blazer with about twenty pockets - Chikara knows because Terushima had shown him excitedly when he had bought it, putting a different kind of sweet in each. _A little pick-me-up whenever I want_ , he'd said, grin wide on his face. Chikara had promptly stolen one, unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth as Terushima whined at him.

"Which pocket?" Chikara asks, more brusquely than he means to. It's three in the morning. He hasn't slept for what's nearing two days. Even his seemingly endless well of patience has to reach its limits. Chikara isn't going to check all twenty hundred of Terushima's pockets.

"Dunno," is Terushima's drowsy reply, before he jerks up suddenly. "Ah!" he exclaims, before he promptly loses the energy that had fleetingly returned to him, head dropping back onto Chikara's shoulder. "Reo-chan took them. She said... said... something."

Chikara turns to look at Terushima. He takes a few seconds more than he should to recover from the proximity of their faces, his mind grinding to a halt enough to forget the pang of something too close to jealousy that Terushima's mention of 'Reo-chan' brought to his chest. Terushima's nodding off again, face soft in his half-sleep. Chikara sighs and grips Terushima tighter as he fumbles for his own keys.

Terushima refuses to let go of him even as Chikara lays him down on his futon. After an unfruitful minute, he gives up on escaping his grasp and falls asleep as soon as his head hits his pillow.

 

 

 

 

Chikara wakes slowly to the sensation of fingertips ghosting lightly over his face. He leans into the touch, still a ways from awake.

"Hey," comes Terushima's voice from over him, low and gravelly with sleep. Chikara groans and buries his face into the pillow.

"Go away, Terushima," he says, voice muffled, "I'm not awake yet."

Terushima just hums, runs his fingers down his nape, blunt nails scraping the skin lightly. Chikara shivers under his touch.

"Hey," Terushima says again, gently wrapping his hand around the base of Chikara's neck. "Sorry for last night. I didn't mean to get that drunk. Well, I kind of did. But I didn't mean to be an asshole and make you look after me, and-"

Terushima makes a startled sound as Chikara blindly grabs for the collar of his shirt and drags him down next to him.

"Shush," Chikara says, turning his face towards Terushima and opening one eye to glare blearily at him. "Sorry later, sleep now," he tells him, and then it's his turn to make a startled noise as Terushima brings his face closer and knocks their foreheads together.

"No," Terushima says firmly. "I need to say it now, or I'm going to lose my nerve."

"To apologise?" Chikara asks, flustered. This close, he can see the golden specks in Terushima's warm brown eyes. The way he's holding Chikara's face in his hands is enough to chase off the last traces of drowsiness.

"To confess!" Terushima corrects him. Chikara is even more bewildered.

"Your sins?"

Terushima growls a little in frustration. He sounds like a puppy. "You're supposed to be smart," he says, "Apparently you're not when it counts."

"What?"

"Ennoshita Chikara," Terushima says firmly, "I don't know how you couldn't tell with me falling over myself around you all the time, but I love you."

"Huh?"

Terushima tsks. Chikara's still reeling in confusion when Terushima leans in and presses a quick kiss against his lips, more a peck than anything.

"Do you get it now?" he says, staring at Chikara a little longer before he goes pink and starts getting up. "Never mind, I'm just gonna-"

He yelps as Chikara pulls him back down. Surprise gives way to his motor mouth after a few seconds. "You've gotta stop doing th-"

"Shut up," Chikara says, and kisses him properly.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. thank u for reading this mess! :^)  
> 2\. this was for [directorennoshita](http://directorennoshita.tumblr.com)! lmao im sorry that this didnt exactly fulfil like... any of ur prompts (at best it fulfilled like... half of three prompts... I was mostly inspired by ur url!) i hope u still enjoyed!  
> 3\. [wonky](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/15/de/4e/15de4e617833b2566e93d47b5d5fe671.jpg) and [wonkier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Case_danzanti.jpg)  
> 4\. [k0zumes](http://k0zumes.tumblr.com) is (tentatively) the tumblr I'm using as a fic writer! come and chat to me so i can follow more people and make it a more active blog c:


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